Which to use
“earn” and “earns” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,102
- “earn” frequency rank
- #13,706
- “earns” frequency rank
- 16808
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | earn | earns |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work. | third-person singular simple present indicative of earn |
Where the eye mixes earn and earns
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. earn (/ɜːn/) and earns (/ɜːnz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “earn” sits inside “earns”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
earn is recorded at frequency rank #3,102, classified as averb, pronounced /ɜːn/. earns is at rank #13,706, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɜːnz/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 16808, this pair ranks #455,445 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of earn vs earns
Shared letters: aenr. Private to "earn": -. Private to "earns": s.
"earn" · 4 letters · shape VVCC · "earns" · 5 letters · shape VVCCC